The Perpetual Motorcycle Thread 2

Thanks, Baeocystin. Sealing washer. That makes sense. I still want to go get the official part from the Triumph dealer to make sure I'm using the right one, but I'll seek out a more available replica once I figure that out. What was on there when I got it was a flat aluminum washer, same with the Yamaha. BMW used copper for the K75 plugs and Suzuki's actually have a little groove in them. I figure the torque specs take deforming the washer into consideration, so that's the main reason I want to use the right one every time. I have reused them before, but I don't like doing it. I've only heard a couple instances of someone losing a drain plug with a used crush, er sealing washer and proper tightening torque, but that's convincing enough for the minimal cost and zero effort involved. I like keeping that oil in there.

You can see the frustration of a 250 too, you work hard to pass somebody in a corner only to get blown off in the straight.

True, but in that video, the rider should be weeping with laughter, as I know he/she's thinking, "OMFG those guys must be shitting themselves to see a me on a 250 winging by them in the corners"

and ++ On what Jehos said directly above...

The bigger bikes excel at masking rider inefficiency with power. The 250 punishes the rider for his/her mistakes. The fact that the 250 rider is at a deficit only where bike power is concerned demonstrates that the 250 rider is much more skilled than the others out there.

Yep. that's lack of skill and fear holding them back. They can't trust themselves to be that aggressive with a bike that can throw them if they aren't careful. The comments are telling. All the guys making excuses for the bigger bikes, saying that they were only out there having fun, and not pushing at all, and that the bike and motor count for more than ability.

From what I saw, the 250 rider's main skill was to not brake as much as the other guys. He did all his passing in the braking zone, then took weird lines that didn't even use the whole track in the turns.

That rider could have been going even faster with better lines through the turns. From what I saw his main issue was always going around the outside of the riders in the braking zone. Which is understandable, the track day organization I ride with has a "no inside passing" rule for beginner and intermediate groups. What that 250 would be doing is almost certainly passing before the tip-in, but still it would be frowned upon.

Tonight was the first time I was on the bike for more than an hour since the beginning of the year. It felt good, and the reflexes are coming back well. Tomorrow starts commuting season again.

In the meantime, I joined a riding Meetup group in my own town. It's telling that in the six months that they have been around, the only activities they have had are two meet and greets at a bar. I started a discussion, offering to go on rides every weekend with whoever wanted.

Oh, and I finally got some Loctite, so I mounted my RAM mount on top of my brake fluid reservoir. Real easy. Just remove the two screws that hold on the cover, mount the plate over the spacer washers, and use the longer screws to go through the mount, the spacers, and then through the cover again. Easy as pie.

So, whats a good GPS app for an iPhone. I don't like Google Maps because it auto-dims the screen. And Apple Maps is mediocre at best.

I like what happens at about 1:04-1:10 in the video: he follows the orange bike into the corner, goes down thorugh 2nd and then all the way back up through 6th gear, and the other guy just holds steady and then pulls away without breaking a sweat. That is "the frustration" right there.

MotionX GPS Drive. Probably the best navigation app for iPhone. Allows you to cache maps, voice navigation is subscription based and optional. The core app is quite cheap as a result (may actually be free, I forget).

Tweezers, forw ehn you shove foam ear plugs into your supposedly narrower ear canal, and it just all goes in.

Seriously. I had this happen a couple years ago. I was sleeping in a cabin with three guys who were 120db snorers, so I put in earplugs. The one I slept on made its way so deep that nobody could see it without yanking my ear around under bright lights. I had someone take it out with a Leatherman. It was pretty scary.

And 250s will just turn faster. I'm sure someone else can give a more detailed answer, but the lower reciprocating mass means less resistance to changes in direction and lower weight overall means less inertial force trying to push the bike to the outside of the turn. It's pretty amazing seeing how the Moto3 250cc singles are able to lap so closely to the 1000cc MotoGP times. And, watching them back-to-back through the same corners, you can clearly see the higher cornering speeds of the small bikes.

I'm pretty sure the main difference is weight. Heavier bikes on the same tires can't carry as much corner speed without slipping. Also the less power you have to the rear wheel, the less chance of spinning up the tire on corner exit.

All that is really only relevant at the very top end of racing. Rossi will beat you around a corner on any bike you choose, from a Ninja 250 to a Goldwing.

I heard back from Rev'It late on Friday, and they're offering a new liner for my jacket free of charge. They'll be getting a big order in from Denmark in May, and they'll ship it to me after that comes in, which makes me happy. The guy also offered to have it sent immediately from Denmark but I'd have to pay shipping for that (which is totally fair) but I don't quite need that level of RIGHT NOW replacement. So that should keep my gear going for at least another two years.

Also, the purple reflective stickers showed up yesterday, so now my helmet is really obnoxious. Sadly they reflect more pink than purple (and pinker than the pics on Amazon), but such is life.

I'll see what I can do. My flashlight didn't do a lot to light it up, but maybe using my real camera with a flash would work.

lyric911 wrote:

And a link to what you ordered, assuming it comes in other colors?

The silver diamonds I bought at Ride West, I think it's a small company that does diamonds and sheets of both black and silver reflective stuff. I can try to grab the name next time I'm in there if you like, but the packaging for this batch is already gone.

The purple stickers are RydeSafe Reflective Modular Bike Decals which come in three sizes (S, M, L) and eight colors (black, silver, violet, blue, green, red, orange, yellow). They also make hexagon stickers, and stickers meant to go onto bike chains, and a few themed sets (butterflies, space, etc.). The ones I got are Violet in size Medium.

As much as reflective stickers can help with visibility, nothing beats a bright color to begin with. People always used to comment on how my bright red K75 would be the first thing they saw, even when I was in line behind two or three silver BMWs. My buddy's yellow Versys is the same way. I could always see him in my mirror on my Indy trip last year, but often missed the gray R1200R in between us. A few weeks ago, I nearly got in an accident when I pulled out in front of a silver Tacoma without its headlights on. It was right behind a yellow Yaris that there's no way I could miss, but I didn't see the Tacoma at all. Gray road, gray snow... it was invisible.

I'm not looking great in that regard right now. Black bike, gray and black suit (touch of red, but not much) and gray helmet. I'm planning on getting a red or hi-viz helmet next time around and will definitely choose the brighter bike if I have a choice. I would have loved a Scorched Yellow Tiger, but never found one for sale.

As much as reflective stickers can help with visibility, nothing beats a bright color to begin with. People always used to comment on how my bright red K75 would be the first thing they saw, even when I was in line behind two or three silver BMWs. My buddy's yellow Versys is the same way. I could always see him in my mirror on my Indy trip last year, but often missed the gray R1200R in between us. A few weeks ago, I nearly got in an accident when I pulled out in front of a silver Tacoma without its headlights on. It was right behind a yellow Yaris that there's no way I could miss, but I didn't see the Tacoma at all. Gray road, gray snow... it was invisible.

I'm not looking great in that regard right now. Black bike, gray and black suit (touch of red, but not much) and gray helmet. I'm planning on getting a red or hi-viz helmet next time around and will definitely choose the brighter bike if I have a choice. I would have loved a Scorched Yellow Tiger, but never found one for sale.

This is very true, and I considered that when I bought my helmet. While I'm fine with some high-viz stuff, I just cannot bring myself to wear a neon yellow helmet :hork:. I know, I won't see it when I'm wearing it, and it's much more visible than silver... but :hork:.

Yah, I understand. That's why I'm looking at solid red helmets. Unfortunately, there aren't too many options (although the GT Air is one of them). Arai actually made a few graphic versions of my helmet in red, but they're nearly twice what I paid for my solid gray one, despite having been discontinued...

I know Alegria's traffic riding style is similar to mine, so I don't worry as much about whether she's visible or not. She just doesn't give cars a chance to run her over.

My concern is about cars pulling out in front of me. I've had it happen a few times and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Besides better headlights, brighter suits and helmets, that is.

DrFaulken's bee dance does a pretty good job. Weave back and forth in your lane when there's a risk of a car pulling out in front of you. Erratic behavior is more visible than any helmet or bike color.

I know Alegria's traffic riding style is similar to mine, so I don't worry as much about whether she's visible or not. She just doesn't give cars a chance to run her over.

My concern is about cars pulling out in front of me. I've had it happen a few times and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Besides better headlights, brighter suits and helmets, that is.

DrFaulken's bee dance does a pretty good job. Weave back and forth in your lane when there's a risk of a car pulling out in front of you. Erratic behavior is more visible than any helmet or bike color.

Speaking of pulling out in front. I would have switched lanes and gone right into a sportbike blasting down the highway in the next to leftmost lane this morning, if I didn't do a full over the shoulder quick look while in my car. I was going about 75 in a 65. He was tearing down the road, doing over 95 easy. So, black bike, black gear, black helmet, passing at an unexpected high speed, so not visible for more than a split second when doing a head check. He was lucky I saw him. I ordinarily just do a quick look to just check my blind spot if my mirrors are clear.

He was also closing in on a traffic cluster, and should have been prepared for people to change lanes... vacuum theory of traffic behavior.. nature abhors an empty spot moving faster than you.

So, riding style can kill you also if you are an extreme practitioner in get ahead of traffic.

Just so long as you aren't drawing unnecessary attention to yourself to the point where you're putting others at risk by being overly distracting. Intentionally trying to appear unpredictable could get you and others into trouble, as well.

I do weave when I see someone that I suspect might not see me, but it doesn't always grab their attention. I'm not saying that a bright appearance always would in those cases, but it can't hurt and it is a passive approach that might help even if you don't notice the potential hazard.

Speaking of pulling out in front. I would have switched lanes and gone right into a sportbike blasting down the highway in the next to leftmost lane this morning, if I didn't do a full over the shoulder quick look while in my car. I was going about 75 in a 65. He was tearing down the road, doing over 95 easy. So, black bike, black gear, black helmet, passing at an unexpected high speed, so not visible for more than a split second when doing a head check. He was lucky I saw him. I ordinarily just do a quick look to just check my blind spot if my mirrors are clear.

He was also closing in on a traffic cluster, and should have been prepared for people to change lanes... vacuum theory of traffic behavior.. nature abhors an empty spot moving faster than you.

So, riding style can kill you also if you are an extreme practitioner in get ahead of traffic.

I'll bet that with a 20mph speed differential, he would have been past you before you completed your lane change. If not, there's still room for a bike and your car in the lane assuming there wasn't a concrete barricade at the edge of the lane or something.

Whether the rider could cope with that situation is a different story, but if you can't deal with close traffic you probably shouldn't be treating the highway like your personal racetrack anyway.

I've got a bright blue bike, grey/white jacket with reflecto-bits, and a solid white helmet. The bulbous Givi luggage with full Admore lighting plus the Denalis on the front fork are the active part of my visibility enhancements. I'm lucky to say I've only had maybe 1 or 2 cases of people turning left in front of me, but I had plenty of space and that was before I put on the Denalis. Never has there been a close call. Now, people tend to give me such a wide berth that at least two cars could have turned left before I even get close enough for it to be remotely dangerous.